Estranged mum of hero homeless man who wrapped a bleeding child in a T-shirt after Manchester attack begs him to come home
THE estranged mum of a homeless man hailed as hero after he rushed to help those caught up in the horrific Manchester terror attack has urged him to get in touch.
Chris Parker, 33, cradled a dying woman and wrapped a bloodied child in merchandise T-shirts after a suicide bomber struck during an Ariana Grande concert last night.
She said: "This is my son who has been estranged from me for a long while. I had no idea he was homeless but he was extremely brave last night.
"‘Please get in touch with me Chris Parker."
In a comment on another post she adds: "No matter what the past, he has done so well and I am very proud of him xx."
Mr Parker was in the foyer of the arena - where he regularly goes to beg for money as concerts kick out - when a huge blast ripped through the exiting crowd and left 22 people dead and 59 people injured.
Mr Parker says he was knocked to the floor by the blast but immediately got back up and began trying to help the wounded.
He recalled: "Everyone was piling out, all happy and everything else. As people were coming out of the glass doors I heard a bang and within a split second I saw a white flash, then smoke and then I heard screaming.
"It knocked me to the floor and then I got up and instead of running away my gut instinct was to run back and try and help.
"There was people lying on the floor everywhere.
"I saw a little girl ... she had no legs.
"I wrapped her in one of the merchandise T-shirts and I said 'where is your mum and daddy?'
"She said 'my dad is at work, my mum is up there'."
He said he thought the child's mother had died from her injuries.
Mr Parker, who has slept rough in the city for about a year, said he also tended to a woman who was badly hurt from the bombing with serious leg and head injuries.
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He said: "She passed away in my arms. She was in her 60s and said she had been with her family.
"I haven't stopped crying.
"The most shocking part of it is that it was a kids' concert.
"There were nuts and bolts all over the floor. People had holes in their back.
"It's the screams I can't get over and the smell ... I don't like to say it but it smelled like burning flesh.
"I don't think anything has sunk in yet. It's just shock."
People have been touched by Mr Parker's actions - hailing him a "hero" - and a has been set up in his honour.
Another homeless man, Stephen Jones, was sleeping near the arena when he heard a huge bang, which he initially thought was a firework.
He described how he had to pull nails from a little girl's face.
The 35-year-old told : "It's just instinct to go and help if someone needs your help and it was children.
"It was a lot of children with blood all over them - crying and screaming.
"We were having to pull nails out of their arms and a couple out of this little girl's face."
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The former bricklayer, who has been sleeping rough for more than a year, added: "Some lady, she got cut from her side so my mate had to hold her legs up and then an ambulance guy came and a fireman and they assisted after that.
"We just held her legs up because we thought she was just going to bleed right out."
Meanwhile the kindhearted people of Manchester have been doing what they can to help those affected by the horrific attack.
Many opened their doors to strangers and offered their spare rooms using the hashtag #RoomForManchester.
Taxi drivers offered free lifts to anyone who needed to get home last night and at least one cafe gave away free tea and coffee to members of the emergency services in order to boost their morale.
Multiple volunteers arrived at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium to help people who visited the venue today looking for help.
Hayley Adamson, 23, and Poppy Collin, 25, who own a food preparation business, dropped off snacks and magazines for children at the stadium.
Local supermarkets also stepped in to help and donated food and drinks to injured children at the Manchester Royal Infirmary.
Thousands of youngsters had been at the US pop star’s concert when the blast hit the foyer around 10.35pm last night, killing 22 and injuring 59.
Among the dead is 18-year-old Ariana super fan Georgina Callander, eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos and 26-year-old John Atkinson.
Many others have not been seen since the concert and worried relatives have flooded social media with appeals to find their loved ones.
A 23-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the attack, which is the worst terrorist incident to hit Britain since the July 7 atrocities.
The arrest was announced moments after Prime Minister Theresa May denounced the "appalling sickening cowardice" of the lone suicide bomber.
Declaring that police and security services would be given whatever resources were needed to track down any accomplices of the attacker, Mrs May vowed: "The terrorists will never win and our values, our country and our way of life will always prevail."
Greater Manchester Police said in a statement: "With regards to the ongoing investigation into last night's horrific attack at the Manchester Arena, we can confirm we have arrested a 23-year-old man in South Manchester."
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and warned of more "severe" attacks in Britain.
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